roc

The roc is an enormous legendary bird of prey in the popular mythology of the Middle East. The roc appears in Arab geographies and natural history, popularized in Arabian fairy tales and sailors' folklore. Ibn Battuta tells of a mountain hovering in the air over the China Seas, which was the roc. The story collection One Thousand and One Nights includes tales "Abd al-Rahman the Maghribi's Story of the Rukh" and "Sinbad the Sailor", both of which include the roc. Etymology The English form roc originates via Antoine Galland's French from Arabic ruḵḵ and that from Persian ruḵ. In both languages, Arabic and Persian, the word is written in the Arabic script as رخ. Common romanizations are ruḵḵ for the Arabic form and ruḵ, rokh or rukh for the Persian form. Eastern origins